


(you can) lean on me

by pretty_illusion



Category: VIXX
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Single Parent Jaehwan, Teacher Hakyeon, The Rating Might Go Up in Later Chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-07-29 00:22:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20073052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pretty_illusion/pseuds/pretty_illusion
Summary: “Is your job more important to you than your son?”Mr. Lee’s face suddenly fell. Hakyeon didn’t let that stop him from saying,“Can’t at least your wife come, if you can’t make it?”Mr. Lee looked through the window at the kid that was waiting for him in the car and when he saw that Hoseok was too busy dancing, he turned to Hakyeon and took one more step. He touched Hakyeon’s chest with his index finger in a threatening manner.“Do not ever, ever, talk about his mother. Do you understand?”





	1. chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> enjoy!

Hakyeon loves children very much. He loves the glow in their eyes, especially when they are excited about little things. They were like angels. So pure, so innocent. That was why he was so eager for his first day at his new job as a kindergarten teacher. When he entered the classroom, almost 1 hour before the class started, what he was not waiting to see was a boy, nodding off on a chair. Why was the kid already in the classroom this early? While Hakyeon was putting his bag on his chair, the noise made the kid jump.

"Hey, buddy,” said Hakyeon, cautiously. He slowly walked towards the kid and bent down to see his face clearly.

“I’m Cha Hakyeon. What is your name?” The kid scratched at his eyes like he was waking up a deep sleep.

“My name is Lee Hoseok,” said the kid.

"Nice to meet you, Hoseok. You have a beautiful name. So, tell me, why did you come to school this early?"

The kid looked up at him. He had very cute eyes and Hakyeon could tell he was a sweet kid, and he felt a little sad for him. The kid probably didn’t want to wake up even earlier than he had to and come to an empty classroom.

"My dad drives me to school, and his job starts really early. So, I usually wait in the classroom until the class starts." Hoseok hugged the backpack he was using as pillow to his chest.

"Oh, I see. Why don’t we arrange you a better place to sleep? We still have, for like an hour till the class starts and we don’t want your neck to hurt."

Hoseok shook his head to both sides.

"No. I don’t want my friends to see me sleeping here. They would think I’m homeless or something."

When Hoseok looked down sadly, Hakyeon just wanted to hug him and tell him that everything would be okay, but he held back.

"Don’t worry, I will wake you up before people start coming in, okay? And this is the first day, so everyone will be late, probably."

Hoseok looked deep in thought for a moment, then nodded. Hakyeon stood up and collected pillows from the little chairs. He aligned them so that Hoseok would be comfortable. He checked the closets for blankets but only found one. He set the blanket he found on the top of the pillows as a bed sheet. When he looked at Hoseok, he saw that the kid was smiling to him. He bent over again and tapped the makeshift bed.

"Come here, buddy.”

Hoseok dropped his bunny bag and walked to the bed but did not lie down.

"What is wrong?" Hakyeon asked.

"It’s a bit cold in here and there are no blankets."

Hakyeon stopped for a while but he did not feel cold. He then realized that he was wearing _a coat_. He turned to Hoseok.

"Look, I am your teacher, but also you can think of me as a friend. I would never let you get cold. Do you trust me?"

Hoseok nodded with the cutest smile and laid down. Hakyeon stood up, took of his coat and covered Hoseok with it. Hoseok smiled again. Hakyeon turned back and walked to turn up the aircon.

"Thank you, Mr. Cha.”

When he heard Hoseok's small voice, he turned and smiled back at him.

"Sleep well, buddy.”

Hoseok smiled an even bigger smile and closed his eyes. Hakyeon opened the aircon and started to drink his coffee while preparing the materials necessary for the class in silence.

\--

The first week at work went so fast that Hakyeon almost forgot to tell parents about the meeting on Friday. When he called every parent to let them know, all of them were okay and said they would be there. Except one, Lee Hoseok’s parents. On Thursday, while everybody was leaving with their parents, Hoseok was sitting in a chair all alone again. Just like yesterday, and the day before that. His parents were almost always late to pick him up. Hakyeon was in the school until late anyway so waiting with Hoseok was not a problem for him but he was kind of angry to see him so sad because of his parents. He was determined to talk to them today about dropping Hoseok off to school so early and picking him up so late. When he heard the knock on the door, he was expecting to see the babysitter that came to pick Hoseok up every day. Much to his surprise, there was a well-dressed man on the other side of the door, and he was breathing very heavily. He started talking before Hakyeon could even say a word.

“I’m so sorry. Our babysitter _suddenly_ got sick and she was not clever enough to tell me about her situation earlier. Is Hoseok okay? “

Hakyeon didn’t realize he was staring at the man with judgement, until he felt Hoseok’s little hand holding his clenched fist.

“I’m okay, daddy. Don’t be mad.”

The man let out a breath and bent down to hug his son. As he held Hoseok in his arms, his angry face turned into a happy one.

“I’m so sorry, baby. I know you hate waiting here after the class is over. Let’s go home and watch cartoons while eating dinner. Is bacon pizza okay?”

Hoseok nodded, giggled and kissed his father’s cheeks. When they stood up, Hakyeon started talking.

“Mr. Lee, can we talk for a second?”

The man seemed to be thinking for a second.

“Sure. Hoseok, go wait for me in the car.”

While Hoseok was going towards the car, Hakyeon saw him through the window and realized that the car was an expensive one. A _really_ expensive one. A yellow Porsche.

“So, what did you want to talk about, Mr. Cha?”

Hakyeon started to talk slowly.

“Mr. Lee, Hoseok comes to school very early and leaves so late every day. He tries really hard to catch up with the rest of the class, but he is always tired.”

“I know. We’re having some problems with his babysitter. I’m the CEO of a company so my work schedule is always full, and I have to wake up early. He wakes up with me every day. I feel bad too but I’m going to find a new babysitter for him this weekend.”

As soon as he finished talking, he gave a nod and turned to leave. Hakyeon reached out and held his arm.

“I’m not finished yet.”

Mr. Lee laughed in an ironic way.

“Oh, I thought your genius observations were finished. I’m _so_ dumb that I could not realize that my own son is tired every day at school because of me, right? Thank you for telling _his father_ that.”

What?

“Why are you being so rude right now? I’m his teacher and having his best interest is my job. Sorry for doing my job properly, sir.”

Mr. Lee took a step towards Hakyeon. Hakyeon started to talk without letting him interrupt.

“We have a teacher-parent meeting on Friday. I hope you can make it. It’s really important.”

Hoseok’s father laughed in the same sarcastic, annoying way as before. Hakyeon felt his blood boil, but he quickly took control of himself.

“Look, Mr. Cha. I just told you that I’m the CEO of a company. I don’t have time for your kindergarten bullshit, okay?”

Hakyeon clenched his fists.

“Is your job more important to you than your son?”

Mr. Lee’s face suddenly fell. Hakyeon didn’t let that stop him from saying,

“Can’t at least your wife come, if you can’t make it?”

Mr. Lee looked through the window at the kid that was waiting for him in the car and when he saw that Hoseok was too busy dancing, he turned to Hakyeon and took one more step. He touched Hakyeon’s chest with his index finger in a threatening manner.

“Do not ever, _ever_, talk about his mother. Do you understand?”

Before Hakyeon could say, _ask_ anything, he turned around and walked quickly to the car. When the Porsche left the parking lot with a noisy wheel sound, Hakyeon could not help but think. What did he do wrong?


	2. chapter 2

Next day, Hakyeon tried not to think about what happened before, with Mr. Lee. He was still confused about what he did wrong.

That night he could not sleep well because every time he closed his eyes, he relived the conversation over and over again. The next day, he got up really early and went to school. That day went by fast. He did the finger-painting activity with the kids and collected their works to show their parents at the next teacher-parent meeting, which was already in a few hours. When it was time to leave for lunch, some parents came to ask questions about the meeting. Hakyeon was glad to answer them because he was kind of in need of some distraction. The meeting was after the lunch break so there was still some time for Hakyeon to collect his thoughts. When the parents started to leave, Hakyeon slowly stood up and started to gather his desk for lunch. Everybody was gone except 2 parents and of course, little Hoseok. The parents were collecting their kids’ toys. Their kids were probably playing at the playground while waiting for their mommies. It was so unfair that Hoseok was sitting here all alone while other kids were having fun. Hakyeon felt the familiar feeling of sadness and he could not help but walk towards him. He was watching his small shoes which were shaped like bunnies.

“Hey, buddy.”

Hoseok lift his head and smiled.

“Hi, Mr. Cha.”

Hakyeon tapped his arm jokingly.

“I want you to call me _buddy_ too, okay?”

Hoseok looked kind of confused. Hakyeon smiled.

“Aren’t we best friends? Or was this a one-sided feeling?” He tried to look upset to make Hoseok smile more and it worked. The little kid started giggling, Hakyeon giggled back.

“I have so many things to do but not enough time. I need a hand; can you help me?”

Hoseok nodded.

“How can I help you Mr. Cha?”

Hakyeon raised his eyebrows and Hoseok got the message.

“Oh, I’m sorry. How can I help you, _buddy_?”

Hakyeon laughed.

“That’s better. I want you to prepare a name card for me. Since we have a class meeting today, I want everybody to learn my name.”

This was a lie. His name card was already ready. But he did not want Hoseok to wait here alone, sitting in silence.

“Okay, I can do that.” He nodded with excitement.

When Hoseok smiled happily, Hakyeon took a blank sheet of paper and wrote his name in the middle.

“Here are your colored pencils.”

Hoseok quickly sat on the fluffy carpet under the table to paint the card.

“Am I free to draw whatever I want?”

“Sure. I love your painting style. You can draw whatever you want around my name.”

Hoseok smiled and took the yellow pencil. Hakyeon stood up and turned around. Two parents were still in the classroom and they were whispering, their eyes were on Hoseok and they were obviously talking about the little kid. They looked kind of sad, this piqued Hakyeon’s curiosity and he went to them.

“What is wrong, Mrs. Kim?”

Kim Jinwo’s mother started talking.

“We just feel sorry about Hoseok’ situation.”

“If you are talking about him waiting here until late hours, Mr. Lee told me that they will get a new nanny soon, so it would be okay.”

“No, not that.” Jung Hee’s mother slowly looked at Hoseok as if he could hear them but Hoseok was too busy painting the name card.

“It’s about his… family.”

“What happened,” asked Hakyeon. He was getting more curious every passing second and he felt his heart beat faster.

“His mother died in a car accident.” Hakyeon felt his heart drop to his stomach.

“H-how?”

“She was driving Hoseok to the pre-school play garden. The police said she saw a truck coming right at them and jerked the wheel but…”

“But?”

“She hit a tree right by the road.”

Oh no… Everything was coming to him in pieces. The accident, Hoseok’s situation, the conversation between Mr. Lee and Hakyeon...

“They said that she made her body to a shield to Hoseok. If she had not made that move—"

“- poor little kid was going to be stabbed by the tree instead of her mother.”

While the two women finished each other’s sentences, Hakyeon felt that his legs were about to give out. Everything was too much. His words to Mr. Lee yesterday were _way_ too much. How could he be so rude and irresponsible, talking about the man without knowing anything about what he was going through? While thinking about all those things, he didn’t even realize that the mothers were leaving and Hoseok was holding his hand.

“Buddy, are you okay?”

“Y-yes, yes.” He bent down. “I’m all okay, buddy.”

Hoseok smiled and handed him the name card he decorated.

“Here, I hope you like it.”

Hakyeon looked at the name card. It was so, so sweet. There were bunnies and flowers everywhere. Hakyeon could not help but think about the trauma of the accident. Hoseok was only 5 years old. How could it be possible for him to get through something like this, losing your own mother in front of your own eyes...?

“Buddy?”

Hakyeon felt Hoseok’s little hands in his own again.

“Yes, buddy?”

“I think my nanny is here. Can I go now?”

When Hakyeon looked at the door, he realized that there was someone waiting at the door. He was so deep in thought that he didn’t realize the knock.

“Sure buddy. Let me help you pack your things.”

They packed Hoseok’s stuff in seconds and Hakyeon quickly opened the door.

“Sorry for making you wait.”

“It’s okay.” The girl smiled.

“Are you Hoseok’s new nanny?”

“Yes, I am. I know I am late but it’s because Mr. Lee called me like 30 minutes ago to tell me that I got the job, so—"

“I see. We have a meeting in a few hours. Is it possible for you or Mr. Lee to attend?”

The girl was trying to get Hoseok to put on his backpack, but she was failing.

“Umm, I don’t think that Mr. Lee would come, he told me he would be coming home late tonight, but I will try to come.”

Of course, Mr. Lee wouldn’t come. Why would he after Hakyeon treated him so rudely?

“Okay.”

Hakyeon bent down to hug Hoseok.

“See you after lunch, bud.” Hoseok smiled but he had a sad look in his eyes.

“Goodbye, Mr. Cha.”

Without even noticing that he said the formal name, Hoseok held his new nanny’s hand. Hakyeon watched them walk away. He was thinking about the situation. The poor 5-year-old kid was going to have lunch with a total stranger for him and he was probably feeling scared. Hakyeon could not help but feeling angry again at Mr. Lee for leaving his kid with some stranger. He was sure that Mr. Lee gave the job to someone who he really trusted but still, seeing Hoseok scared and sad like that just made him feel angry.

He ate his lunch all alone in the classroom but all he really did was to play with the vegatables in his plate. He couldn’t stop thinking about Hoseok’s situation. He knew he should apologize to Mr. Lee but how could he do it? He probably wouldn’t come to the meeting. Maybe he could send a message, but he didn’t have his phone number. After playing with his food for half an hour, he gathered the table and put the food he brought back in the bag. There was like an hour for the meeting time, so he started to cut the cake that he made for the parents. At that moment an idea came to him. Maybe, he could send some cake for Mr. Lee as an apology? That sounded nice in his mind so after putting every slice to paper plates, he left one last slice in the container. A note would probably be nice but what would it say?

“Mr. Lee. I’m sorry for my rude behavior. I should have been more understanding about the sit—"

No. He crumpled the paper and took a new one. He probably shouldn’t mention the accident because Hakyeon wasn’t supposed to know about it in the first place, so it could cause a conflict between Mr. Lee and other parents.

“Mr. Lee. First of all, I’m sorry for my rude behavior and my insensitiveness. If you are free too, I want to talk about Hoseok’s situation in class with you face to face this Sunday. I know you are really busy, but I promise that I won’t take too much time of yours. There is a small cafe called Books and Cakes. I’ll be there at 12 AM. My phone number is written behind the paper. Again, I’m really really sorry. I hope that I can see you there. -Cha Hakyeon.”

Okay. This was a nice letter that gave no clue about the accident. Hakyeon folded the paper and put it inside the bag that he put the cake with. He felt a little bit relieved.

After that, the meeting went really fast for him. All of the parents, except Mr. Lee, were there. Hoseok’s nanny was there too, but Hakyeon only talked to her about the good things; like how successful Hoseok was at finger-painting and more stuff like that. He was not sure that he wanted to talk to her about the accident or more in-depth stuff, since she was a new nanny and there were other people around them. When the meeting was over, Hakyeon caught up with Hoseok at the playground, painting his homework for Monday.

“Hey, buddy.”

When he bent down near him, Hoseok’s face lighted up.

“Hello, Mr.Cha. Oh—"

His eyes catched Hakyeon’s name card.

“Oh, you put it on,” He could not help but clap with excitement and Hakyeon felt really happy. Seeing Hoseok this cheerful was his motivation these days.

“Of course, I would put this on. My best friend made this for me. And I love bunnies a lot, too.”

“_Oh really_?”

Hoseok could not hide his excitement, and this made Hakyeon laugh. He nodded his head.

“Yes.”

“Maybe I can show you my bunny shoe collection.”

“Oh, I would love that.”

Suddenly, Hoseok hugged Hakyeon.

“Thank you for putting on the name card I made. That made me _soooooo_ happy.”

Hakyeon could not help but felt surprised by how straightforward Hoseok was. He was telling that he is happy, and he was not feeling shy but showing it. Hakyeon hugged him back.

“Sure buddy.”

When the hug broke up, Hakyeon handed the cake bag to Hoseok.

“Hey umm, since your father could not come to today’s meeting, I want you to give this cake to him, okay?”

Hoseok took the bag.

“Okay, but-- can I eat too?”

Hakyeon giggled and ruffled Hoseok’s hair.

“Of course, you can. One day I will make a special, bunny shaped cake for you.”

Hoseok’s eyes got bigger.

“Oh, can you really do that? Can you make a bunny cake?”

“Sure, why not? But I will probably need your help for that too because we need to design it first, right?”

“Right,” Hoseok nodded to him and Hakyeon felt happy to see him so excited.

“Okay. Now I need to go back because Coco is waiting for me at home.”

Hoseok looked confused for a moment.

“W-who is Coco?”

“Coco is my puppy. She was at the vet’s office, but she is coming back today.”

“DO YOU HAVE A PUPPY? CAN YOU BRING HER TO SCHOOL ONE DAY? CAN I PLAY WITH HER? I PROMISE THAT I WON’T LOSE MYSELF. _PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE_.”

“Of course. We can set up a day and you can come play with her.”

“YESSSSS.”

When Hoseok hugged him, he once again remembered why he choose this job.

***

That night after doing some paperwork, he sat down on his couch with a glass of rose wine and Coco on his lap.

“Do you think that Mr. Lee will show up for the meeting, Coco?”

Coco kept biting her toy while Hakyeon was playing with her ears.

“I hope he will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please feel free to leave comments and kudos :) ♥

**Author's Note:**

> please feel free to leave kudos & comments if you enjoyed this chapter! we need the motivation to write the rest of this fic so it will be appreciated :)


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